


Random Access Memory

by HalcyonAether



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Game/Dream AU, I won't even tag ships yet bc it's so slow, I'll update tags as I go, Jesse's coworkers are jerks, Like, M/M, Modern AU, Slow Burn, this is super slow I'm so sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-18 10:04:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11872047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalcyonAether/pseuds/HalcyonAether
Summary: Jesse McCree didn't mean to have a film set dropped on him three days before his birthday. He also didn't mean to wake up in the hospital to a missing arm either. Even with that going on, his adopted sister, Sombra, gives him a NanoGear headset to give him access to a dream-world, and suddenly he's very lost in two different worlds.Of course, there's always a guide for every lost person. Unfortunately for him, his randomized guide is across the city, and this dream world isn't as perfect as Sombra implied.





	Random Access Memory

**Author's Note:**

> This is currently un-betaed, so all mistakes are mine! Overwatch doesn't belong to me, but rather to Blizzard!

The “Accident”, as Sombra liked to call it, wasn’t actually Jesse’s fault. He’d been the main victim of the wired sets and props crushing his left arm, sure, but that was his co-workers’ fault. Knowing the bastards, they hadn’t even shed a tear when Jesse was admitted to urgent care. 

_What a tragic way to spend his 37th birthday..._

When Jesse woke up first, he was disgusted by his damaged arm - or perhaps, lack of an arm. The entire forearm was gone, and rugged scars ran across the bottom of the stump. Scrambling to sit up in the nasty blue of the hospital bed, his first instinct was to rip the wires out of his stump and bolt out the door. Preferably, this would all turn out to be a very, very bad dream brought on by a mild concussion from the set.

Doctor Angela Ziegler - her nametag told him - had smiled nervously at his confusion, and gently pried his hand away from the IVs in the stump.

“Mr. McCree, your left arm was lost in the accident. We are fitting you with a prosthetic at the moment, and your boss has agreed to cover expenses for you.” She rambled off an update for him. Jesse merely scowled at her as he calmed down. His shoulders remained stiff as he scanned the room for anything familiar of his. His Stetson lay abandoned on the side table, next to a myriad of sedatives and blood donations.

_How long had he been out?_

Sombra had let herself into the room soon afterwards, to give Jesse something or other. He only vaguely remembered her clipping a NanoGear headset into place behind his earlobes and watching her attach something to the underside of the lonely Stetson. “Happy birthday, vaquero! You won't appreciate this until after you've used it for a while, but I’ve decided that my gift to you is a copy of my new VR system.”

Jesse’s frown remained grim, and Sombra had simply laughed. “Ah, don’t worry! It only activates during unconsciousness. It is for working during sleep, to take advantage of eight extra hours. Or, of course, you could always be a true cowboy and save damsels in distress, like the movies!”

Perhaps if he had been in a better mood, he would've thanked her for the device that could give him more time to memorize lines, but at the moment, he couldn't think of anything except the odd feeling of nothingness when he tried to move his left forearm.

“Sombra, I ain’t gonna play yer game. This is too much t’handle right now, especially with the missin’ arm ‘n all.” Jesse spat, rolling his eyes. Sombra grinned anyways. 

“It'll give you more time to think about that and sort it out, cabrón.” It wasn't like he hadn't considered that option, but the device wouldn't really help if he couldn't sleep. And this was certainly a nightmare he would like to wake up from and never return to in the foreseeable future, thank-you-kindly.

Jesse huffed and resumed his search, taking in the medical equipment he was hooked up to. Angela still sat at a computer at the other end of the room, probably typing in vital information. He spotted Sombra looking over her shoulder on multiple occasions. She likely wanted to read up on his numerous accidents aside from this one - how he hadn't managed to die from a trust fall yet was the question of the millennium. Or, she was planning to mock him to the public whenever she could get her phone back out without being spotted, because _who gets their arm crushed under a movie set, ever-_

Jesse was lassoed back out of his thoughts when Angela waved in a bearded man holding a detached arm carefully in his own metal claw. The prosthetic came with clean wires coming out of the elbow- _and Jesse wasn’t prepared for this at all._

“I found one that fits him, Angela!” The man was dwarfed by the doctor, who smiled and took the prosthetic from him gently. 

“Danke, Torbjörn! Get Dr. Zenyatta, will you? I need to attach this.” Her accent was definitely a form of German, Jesse noted, but he couldn't pin the actual country. He didn't exactly have reason to anyways - he was more occupied by how short ‘Torbjörn’ was; the man could easily have passed for a dwarf.

“Agreed. I'll be back in no time!” He walked back out as quickly as he'd come in. Jesse furrowed his brows- _who even are these people? Why do I need so many doctors; can't Angela just finish up and let me leave? I don't need another, do I?_

Angela took about 2 minutes to adhere the prosthetic to his stub. Some of the scars, apparently, had been purposefully made to hook the arm on and keep it there. Jesse watched absently as she showed him how to unhook and take it off, and then put it back on. In the corner of his eye, he could see that Sombra was bored with this, and had started looking through Jesse’s medical files on Angela’s computer. _Of course she had, the nosy hacker. She really needed a less intrusive hobby…_

Jesse was startled out of his thoughts for a second time when a dark-skinned man wearing loose, yellow, yoga pants was led in by ‘Torbjörn’. _Why the hell do all these people dress so weirdly?!_

“Greetings! I am Tekhartha Zenyatta, your physical therapist. I also act as an emotional therapist if you so need, Mr. McCree.” Jesse glared at the newcomer, while Angela returned to the computer, shooing off Sombra. Zenyatta adjusted his sweater, which drooped off his shoulder a little ways. Jesse held back a snort - _this guy was the definition of loose and relaxed-_

Jesse attempted to wave off the therapist, but his arm wasn't nearly as precise as it should've been. He managed to slap himself in the face with the metal prosthetic and glared at Zenyatta, who smiled benignly. “Fine, I'll take yer help. When’s the appointment?” His face burned from what he hopes was just the pain of metal punching himself in the face, but was likely just embarrassment. There was no way he could get out of this now...

“I will schedule according to when you are available, Jesse.” Zenyatta prompted him to recall his normally busy schedule, and he groaned. Hopefully Jesse’s boss wouldn't be irritated if he took a day off. It wasn't like he could work properly with the whole ‘prosthetic arm thing’ anyway, especially since it wouldn't obey him yet.

“Fine. Tomorrow afternoon then? I gotta at least try t’get some rest today.” Jesse glanced at the clock. 15:32. Hopefully this would end soon, it was getting tedious to listen to doctors ramble about what he would just like to shove into the back of his mind and forget about.

“I will schedule you for 13:00 tomorrow then. I have your email, do not worry about communication. Thank you for your time!” Zenyatta extended a hand to shake, and Jesse was brought to the sudden realization that this man had two, cold prosthetic arms hidden under the white sweater. With slight newfound curiosity, he shook the hand offered, and attempted an escape from the bed.

“I need to run a few vital tests before you may leave, Mr. McCree. This will be quick!” Angela assured him as Torbjörn and Zenyatta exited. Jesse sighed and sat back down begrudgingly. Somehow, this was worse than memorizing the lines for the play that had led to this entire ordeal. _Why did his coworkers hate him so much?_

As Angela ran the last assessment, Jesse stared at the clock ticking its way to 17:00. He’d have to grab dinner on the way home- _maybe there was a McDonald's nearby?_

Angela released him from the emergency bag with a note not to try anything complex with his left arm, and to drive safely. Jesse couldn't help but think she should've directed him to a bus station, but he only lived a couple miles away, and the walk would probably give him time to contemplate what to do about his job.

Blackwatch Productions was an animation/live-action movie company. Unfortunately for Jesse, he had been star actor in the live-action film they were currently rolling out, and the ‘Accident’ had ruined his arm and set everything far behind schedule. _Why couldn't he have been a voice actor? It would've been less movement, and maybe then the set wouldn't have been a threat?-_

Blackwatch’s rival company, Overwatch, was a far more successful business with several theme parks and store chains in its name. Jesse briefly considered joining its ranks instead, but changed his mind when he remembered that he would have to re-audition, and unfortunately, his arm still wasn't quite working with him.

He supposed he could still get his McDonald’s though.

Jesse stepped into his house at 18:24, a little later than he would have liked. He flopped onto the couch and stared at the ceiling, groaning to himself. Scratching his neck, he accidentally felt the cool metal of the NanoGear shift slightly behind his ear. _He'd almost forgotten - Sombra’s present could give him time to learn his arm while his physical body worked itself out!_

Deciding to try it out and distract himself from his mini-crisis, he closed his eyes and waited.

\------------

After a restless minute or so, a loading screen sat in front of him. Jesse marveled at it; it was almost like a computer inside his head!

Entering his name was easy. Birthdate, gender, and age came easily as well. Entering vital information turned out to be a full-body scan, which the NanoGear must've done while it was loading up.

Suddenly, a choice screen popped up in front of his fingertips.

-Human- or -Omnic-

Jesse hadn't ever heard of an Omnic before; maybe it was a made-up race within this dream-game? Sombra hadn't mentioned anything about it… perhaps it was just safer to go with Human.

He chose ‘Human’ after a few more moments of thought. Omnics would be interesting to learn about, and he’d have to do some research on the logistics of this game when he exited.

Another holographic panel opened, showing him that he could move just as in real life, and showing him that the game had selected a random ‘partner’ for him. Said partner was supposed to help him find things while he started out, and was apparently 2 months into the game at that moment. A name, ‘Genji Shimada’, read along the bottom, along with a pop-up containing vital information and a map with many white dots, a red dot, and a green dot. Not surprisingly, considering Jesse's luck, the colored dots were separated by 10 miles worth of city.

Jesse sighed and began walking towards the green dot. _Well, he supposed he’d have to get to this ‘Genji’ at some point in his life. Hopefully the green dot wouldn't have logged out before Jesse could reach them._

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope that was enjoyable! I'm not the best at updating to a schedule, but I'll try to work as steadily as I can. This idea's been in development for a month or so now, and I do have an outline, so I'll hopefully be faster than if I didn't have plans!
> 
> I do have mostly set ships for the fic, but if anyone has a preference for Genji, I'll keep it in mind. McHanzo is endgame already, but Genji is usually flexible for me otherwise!


End file.
